Lake Natoma Bike Trail

Folsom, CA - Lake Natoma Bike Trail

The loop around Lake Natoma is about 10 miles long (shown in yellow). Although technically the section on the west side of the lake (purple) is the American River Bike Path, locals treat the loop around the lake as it's own entity, so we are doing so on this web site. (For more on the American River Bike Path, check out that page here.)

This route is on a very nice paved path with the exception of one small gap, just a couple blocks long in the old downtown part of Folsom. To see all the other bike paths in this incredibly bike friendly city, check out the City of Folsom page here.

On this ride we met my sister and her family at the Natoma Inn in Downtown Folsom. From there we rode south on the eastern side of Lake Natoma, around the lake, and back to where we started at the Inn. They are a family of bike riders and very familiar with this route, so we just followed along behind.

getting all the bikes ready to go in the parking lot of the Natoma Inn

Making the turn at the south end of the lake by the dam, first under the overpass, then across it, and past the Dam

riding up the west side of the lake

visiting with Lori while we ride... on much of the ride up the west side of the lake you are right along the shoreline

at the north end of the lake we cross this historic bridge... look at the original sign :)

the view from the bridge looking up river

in the "gap" in the bike path

through the old downtown area, and back to where we started... now for lunch...

This is a very beautiful ride! The route is generally flat, though there are some minor ups and downs just to keep things interesting. Within this short 10 miles you see a wonderful display of gorgeous scenery and wildlife. We even saw a couple large vultures in a tree, waiting for "road kill" no doubt. It was a really cool idea to save the old historic bridge and make it part of the bike path. We just had to stop there for a while and enjoy the view. If we lived in the area I'd want to take a quick spin around the lake each morning! It would be a great way to start the day!